Pipelining is a critical part of the sales process. Veteran sales teams know that healthy pipelines ensure continued growth, even in times of market adversity. Those with shorter vision are often left wondering why their growth is anemic at best (or see market share shrink at worst).

Lead generation firms offer a way to outsource some of this work, and Procurement is poised to help Sales get resources in place to keep pipelines full. Yet this isn’t territory that many Procurement pros have experience in. So, what can Procurement do to best support Sales in finding and selecting suppliers in this space?

Meet the Experts

Kelvin Francis is the founder and CEO of LeadsBIXample. The firm was founded in the middle of the late 2000’s recession, at a time when small business was slated as the “the engine of recovery.” Kelvin’s goal was to serve that engine. After working in firms that catered to mostly enterprise clientele, Kelvin saw a gap in the market for smaller and mid-sized organizations and sought to fill that gap.

Michael Morris has worked in the sales and lead generation space for decades, often alongside Kelvin. Mike specializes in developing a clear the path to client growth, putting together all of the elements that make this possible. That includes B2B appointment setting and social media marketing, but also incorporates business and strategic planning needed to grow and support a sales team.

Together, they helped answer two common questions Procurement has about lead generation firms:

What can they do, and does my sales team need these services?

What’s the best way to go about selecting these firms?

In this first installment, we’ll take a deeper look into this first question.

What do Lead Generation Firms Do?

Procurement pros need a solid understanding of the services offered in the market and how their organizations can utilize them. This is simple in commoditized markets – to understand industrial supply needs, we’d look no further than annual usage reports. A market basket here takes shape quickly.

Not so with specialized services like lead gen. Usage reports, if a third party is used at all, may not detail all the services at play, and this category isn’t always one that Procurement has deep experience with. Sales teams aren’t always quick to fill in the gaps, either. Bringing in a third party supplier here can seem like an attack on a sales team’s abilities.

We need to understand the full scope of what a lead gen firm can provide an organization to better understand if those services can benefit our organizations. To start, I wanted a feel for how both Kelvin and Mike define lead gen offerings.

For an organization
that has never really engaged with a lead gen firm, what are they and what
services do they provide?

Mike The most apparent answer is ‘generating
sales leads,’ but that isn’t the full picture. Going out to the market to directly
connect clients with their target audience is just part of what these firms can
offer. Most provide additional services depending on how developed a client’s
sales team is. Clients often engage lead gen firms to help get a better idea of
what their target market really looks like, develop value propositions, brainstorm
sales talking points, and refine their approach to either tackling a new market
or expanding in an existing space.

Kelvin Lead generation is all about adding fuel
to an organization’s sales activities, either using internal resources or bringing
in a third party. The act of generating leads is the opening activity to build
a sales pipeline. There are different versions of lead generation, from serious
appointment setting down to just exposing a company to the market and reinforcing
branding and messaging – it’s all part of the chase that is sales.

Some sales teams
worry that bringing in a third party interferes with how their process works or
worry that they’re being outsourced. Do you think there’s overlap, and can lead
gen companies replace parts of a sales team?

Mike Whether or not they could, the true
value of a lead gen firm is only realized through strong relationships with
sales teams. These firms don’t eliminate sales teams but do cut out ‘sales
waste.’ They allow sales people to prioritize warmer opportunities or those
closing sooner than later. Generally, outsourcing lead gen lets a team focus
efforts on chasing big fish where a relationship already exists.

Kelvin Lead generation might be able to replace
some sales functionality, but it shouldn’t be the first place organizations
look to when evaluating their sales process effectiveness. Organizations should
look at lead generation firms instead to evaluate how much pipelining ammunition
those teams have access to, which is what helps determine how effective they
will be.

You’ve both been
involved in sales and lead gen for some time. What changes have you seen in the
landscape over the years?

Kelvin The biggest catalyst for change has been
the amount of information that consumers have access to. They shop around and
come to the table informed about their options. Sales teams need intel on where
these savvier consumers are in the sales lifecycle and turn to lead gen
partners to provide this reconnaissance. It isn’t just about getting an
appointment any more, it’s about getting background on why that consumer is
interested and what brought them to that conclusion.

Mike There’s been a mindset change in sales
leadership. Instead of relying on old fashioned sales tactics, leaders are looking
for fresh ideas for approaching their audience. A common example is the
adoption of CRM or other support technologies. Yesterday’s challenge was
getting leadership to understand the benefits of analyzing and applying sales
data. Today’s challenge isn’t convincing leadership of the value, but forming a
strategy to leverage this data. Lead generation strategies are a way to
directly capitalize on the analytics a lot of companies have spent time and
resources building up.

Key Takeaways

The phrase "measure twice, cut once" exists for a reason. For Procurement, this means taking the time at the beginning of an initiative to delve deep into our scopes of work before relying on them in a market event.

When it comes to lead generation, this discussion planted three key takeaways in my mind:

Start by evaluating existing gaps in the sales process. Identify where the process can be strengthened, and research how lead gen suppliers can offer support.

However, do so carefully. Our goal is to bring Sales onboard, not drive them to fight against us. Establish early on that such third parties support Sales teams or, as Mike puts it, help eliminate sales waste. They aren’t meant to replace the team but to elevate it instead.

Leverage suppliers early on. An informal RFI should be conducted before a scope of work is generated. Lead gen providers are in the perfect position to shed light on opportunities that Procurement may not be aware of.

Strategic Sourceror

StrategicSourceror.com is a leading industry blog that focuses on providing news, tips, and best practices for a variety of procurement, supply chain, and strategic sourcing categories.

This site is owned and operated by Source One Management Services, LLC; the leading consultancy providing strategic sourcing resources, procurement advisory consulting and procurement support services to hundreds of companies.

Continue to visit StrategicSourceror for your supply chain and procurement news and to see the latest tips, advise, and rants from the analysts, consultants, and category managers from Source One.

Thank you for your readership!

About Source One

Source One is a leading procurement services provider. Since 1992, Source One has been providing companies in all industries with sourcing services including BPO, Benchmarking, Spend Analysis, Category Support, and RFX Management.